"Sect Master, what should we do?"

The Sect Master, Bo Min, frowned as he glared at three bound royal guards. What should they do? That was the wrong question. What mattered was what could they do.

And there weren't that many options.

Obviously, they could not let those three go as if nothing happened.

Unfortunately.

They would report to their Captain and shit would go down.

However, if they dealt with those three, their teammates would come knocking too. It would not take a genius to guess who dealt with them...

He sighed.

In the end, shit would have to go down.

Their only path was to take care of their guests first and then disappear. As for the sect... It did not matter. They could just rebuild it later under another name.

They would likely have to give up on a decent part of the harvest but it could not be helped. It was already far too late.

Bo Min could not even place the blame on Tian Shun. After all, if he had let them see what was behind the doors...It would have ended just the same.

He sighed.

Then, he began to give his orders: "Yu Chin and Liao Hu, you're the only ones under the 20th stage, you guys pack up our things. If we can't take the cows, make sure to milk them all the way"

Both men nodded.

Bo Min turned towards the two others and stated: "As for us, we will have to take care of our guests. Only the Captain should pose a threat to us, the others were not even at the 20th stage. Still, remain on-guard and deal with it with your everything"

Tian Shun and Ma Jiao nodded. If the leader deemed this to be the only solution, then it was.

The five of them prepared and separated in the two groups.

Yu Chin and Liao Hu entered the secret room with the three prisoners. As the door opened, screams and wails resounded. It frightened the three beyond words and they started screaming and pleading too. No one cared about that though. And after the door was closed, no sounds escaped it.

The other three nonchalantly went back up while discussing their strategies.

As they reached the top, they called for the disciples to assemble. 157 Kids. That accounted for the entire population of their sect. Most of those kids were not even in the spiritual realm yet. But it was fine. They were not the sword but the shield after all.

The group moved towards the Guest House and, as they arrived, began to prepare.

Ma Jiao went forward and circulated her spiritual energy. It accumulated over her head and formed a gigantic sphere. Once it reached the size of a house, she began to infuse her own element into it. The ball began to emit a chilling temperature and stalactites began to form within. Then, she started to make it spin and after a few seconds, she threw it at the Guest House.

...

Jin had woken up earlier when the kid made a ruckus.

However, he did not go down. This problem was not his. Unfortunately, his men seemed to have had a different opinion. He went to fetch Ame right away. He wanted her to stop them.

Instead, she told him: "Let them go and follow them secretly"

"We agreed not to find trouble" replied Jin.

She shook her head with a sigh and stated: "They're innocent kids, Jin. Can you truly bear to ignore this?"

Jin nodded with a depressing smile on his face. By now, after all he went through, he was quite numb. He witnessed so many deaths, his own included, that he could not empathized with it anymore.

Ame sighed: "The breakthrough?"

Jin nodded. She was smart enough to understand why he was acting like this. Still, it did not mean that she was the same. She told him: "I can't ignore it anymore. Not after one of them asked us for help"

Jin sighed.

At that moment, he had many options.

In truth, he could have simply run away. He owed nothing to anyone and did not care about those strangers. Except Ame. His feelings for her, built over many lifetimes, made it impossible for him to abandon her like that.

He previously asked himself that question. Whether he would be able to leave her behind when the time came... Now that a milder situation presented itself, he understood. He would not. He could not. He did not want to either.

And so, he agreed to her request.

While he would be away, she would warn the others and prepare them for the battle.

...

Jin witnessed the three enter the hall. He stayed concealed on top of a roof close-by.

He waited for a while but they never came out. Instead, he saw the Sect Leader and two of his elders accompanying him out. They were too far for him to hear their discussion but he could see their mouths. Reading on people's lips? He knew how to do that. And so, he learnt of their plan. Some of it. Enough of it.

All three of them were over the 20th stage and, if you added those kids...It was impossible for Ame's group to win. Even if he joined the battle, it would end with the death of them all.

He was still only at the 10th stage after all. Nothing more than an ant in front of those guys.

As for the other team members...They were all over the 10th stage. With Ame along, they should be able to hang on for a while. The three that got captured were close to the 20th stage. If he could get to them and bring them out...The odds would no longer be so drastically against his group.

Even though they were spies...

Even though he did not like them...

Even though he could not care less about all of this...

He cursed and rushed in the Grand Hall.